Another Indian Talent: IM title & GM norm after only 4 years!

GURUGRAM: Those who live and breathe the Game of Kings are cut from a different cloth than the rest of sport's mortals (and immortals).

But even in the world of teen chess wunderkinds, Prithu Gupta is conspicuous. Last week, at a tournament in Gibraltar, Prithu, 13, completed his International Master (IM) title and achieved his maiden Grand Master (GM) norm.

FIDE the world chess federation, currently has him ranked eighth in the under-14 age group (and fifth in Asia).

It's not rare for someone his age to gain that first GM norm, but if Prithu were to notch up a couple more, and take his ELO rating to above 2500, he'll likely be on his way. Prithu had almost zero expectations when heading out to play the Tradewise Gibraltar Masters, and no thoughts of gaining a GM norm having lost the previous day.

Such a frame of mind helped him comfortably see off the challenge of Norway's Christiansen Johan-Sebastian in the ninth and last-but-one round. The gifted Prithu came to the game when well past his ninth birthday, unusually late for a chess-playing kid.